As many as 220 students of the Khmer-Viet Nam friendship primary school in Cambodia attended a ceremony to start their new academic year on December 11.

The school, located in Prek Sai Kho commune in Prey Veng province, about 100 kilometres east of Phnom Penh, was built in August last year at a cost of US$185,000. Of which, US$145,000 was sponsored by Viet Nam’s Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap.

At the ceremony, Headmaster of the school Nguyen Van Hao said the students, accounting for 70% of Vietnamese children in the locality, are grouped in seven classes, including five Vietnamese and two Khmer. All the students enjoy free education and uniform.

Since the school was put into operation in 2012, it has received attention from the local government and the Vietnamese community in Cambodia, as well as the Vietnamese Embassy and the Dong Thap People’s Committee, he said.

However, he also pointed out that the school is facing numerous difficulties such as poor infrastructure and teachers’ low income.

(VNA/VOV online)